80 tourists stranded in Sangla as heavy rains predicted for two more days

Shimla: Major rivers in Himachal Pradesh are in spate following continuous rainfall since Sunday. 80 tourists were reported stranded in Sangla valley as the valley remained cut off sue to major landslides.

Officials said more showers could aggravate the flood-like situation in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana.

Kullu Deputy Commissioner B.M. Nanta said the water level in the Beas and Satluj rivers have increased abnormally due to continuous rainfall in their catchment areas. But the rivers are still flowing below the danger mark.

Satluj river is more in spate due to heavy rainfall in Kinnaur and Shimla districts. In Kinnaur, the administration has declared a holiday on Thursday in all schools and colleges due to downpour.

‘The Satluj is still flowing three metres below the danger mark. We are monitoring the situation and have declared alert in areas located along the river banks,’ Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Mamta Chaudhary said.

However, she said that over 80 tourists, including foreigners, are still stranded in the Sangla Valley.

Nearly 50 tourists from Kolkata, five from France, 11 from Germany and the rest from other countries are stranded in and around Sangla village for the past few days due to massive landslides on the road linking the village.

Incessant rains have also caused massive landslides on National Highways 21 and 22 in Shimla, Kinnaur, Mandi and Kullu districts, hampering vehicular traffic.

Met office in Shimla said most of the areas in the state, particularly Shimla, Solan, Kinnaur, Kullu, Sirmaur and Mandi districts, have been experiencing moderate to heavy rainfall.

Shimla got 129 mm of rain in the past 24 hours, Bhuntar in Kullu district 40 mm, Solan town 106 mm and Sundernagar in Mandi district 34 mm. Most of the rainfall has occurred since early Wednesday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of the possibility of isolated heavy rainfall over Himachal Pradesh, Uttarkhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, North Rajasthan and West Uttar Pradesh for at least two more days.